Miserere Nobis

Today I went with a small group of BC kids to a women’s medium security prison to sing mass. I followed the security protocol to the letter, wearing no denim, no jewelry, no bobby pins. Luckily I remembered before going into the facility that my shoe was being held together with a safety pin.

People ask how it was and I’m supposed to have something to say. “Amazing” is a popular word for the BC crowd. “Good” doesn’t say enough, “interesting” sounds judgmental, “transformative” sounds pompous.

I’ll say this: It’s easier to understand the preferential option for the poor in that environment. The crux of the preferential option is not that we should prefer the poor but that God does. I suspect tonight that the message of Christ speaks in a special way to those who, for whatever reason, are not free, and to those who have faced demons and are aware of God’s mercy in their life.

The air was charged as the lector read the end of today’s first reading:All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.